The 1919 Grand Prix season was the first season following the armistice that ended World War I in November 1918. European economies were struggling, and many automotive firms had to recover and retool from military production. So, there was very little racing activity as it took time for the companies and populations to recover. As the world rebuilt there were only two major races held in the year – the Indianapolis 500 and the Targa Florio.
Unsurprisingly there was a mixture of old and new in the fields and in both events, it was the pre-war machinery that was triumphant. In the Indianapolis race, Howdy Wilcox in his Peugeot saw off a competitive field including new cars from Duesenberg, Miller and Ballot. It also had the first postwar deaths at the event when Arthur Thurman, and then Louis LeCocq and his mechanic were killed in separate accidents. Wilcox went on to be awarded the year's AAA national championship.
The Targa Florio attracted a solid field but was held in November in atrocious weather. Raced on a shorter variant of the Madonie circuit, it became a contest between the new Ballot of René Thomas and the pre-war Peugeot voiturette of André Boillot (both of whom had been at Indianapolis). On the tight course and with the bad weather, the power advantage of the bigger cars was negated, and it was Boillot who got the victory after a gruelling eight hours in wind, rain and snow.
| Date | Name | Circuit | Race Regulations | Race Distance | Winner's Time | Winning driver | Winning constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 May |  VII Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis | AAA | 500 miles | 5h 41m | Howdy Wilcox | Peugeot EX-5 | Report |
| 23 Nov |  X Targa Florio | Medio Madonie | Targa Florio | 430 km | 7h 51m |  André Boillot | Peugeot L-25 | Report |
The Indianapolis regulations remained the same as they were before the war – with a maximum engine size of 300 cu in (4.92 litres). The organisers of the Targa Florio had seven categories subdivided by number of cylinders and engine bore. [6]
An inevitable surge in technology during wartime was carried over into automotive engineering design. The rapid advances in airplane engines could be translated into racing engines. Ettore Bugatti had taken Ernest Henry from Peugeot to help with the development of his Bugatti U-16 engine, with twin 8-cylinder blocks. This project was then picked up by Fred Duesenberg’s company which used new, lightweight carburettors made by Harry Miller on his innovative straight-8 engine. [7] [8]
Advances in metallurgy allowed lighter engines to be built, which meant they could be run at higher revolutions thereby generating more power. So, engines could be smaller and thus give a lower centre-of-gravity, which in turn meant better road-handling. Chain drives were abandoned in favour of shaft and virtually all racing units had twin-camshafts. Similarly, the long-stroke large-capacity four-cylinder pre-war engines disappeared. [9]
The Frontenacs of Gaston and Louis Chevrolet utilised a significant amount of aluminium that made them far lighter (1600 lbs) than most other cars, that were well over 2000 pounds. [10]
| Manufacturer | Model [11] | Engine | Power Output | Max. Speed (km/h) | Dry Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peugeot | EX-5 | Peugeot 4.5L S4 | 112 bhp | 185 | 1060 |
| Ballot | 5-Litre | Ballot 4.8L S8 | 140 bhp | 190 | 1245 |
| FIAT | S57/14B | FIAT 4.5L S4 | 135 bhp | 145 | 1025 |
| Duesenberg | Duesenberg 4.9L S8 | 120 bhp | 180 | 1150 | |
| Miller | Miller 3.0L S4 | 118 bhp | 185 | 970 |
see also 1919 AAA Championship Car season
During wartime, the AAA National Championship was still held in an abbreviated format. There were now no more road-races included in the event list. The points-system devised for the 1916 season was discontinued. In 1917, from 22 races (none longer than 250 miles) at 8 venues, Earl Cooper won his third championship. [12] In 1918 there were 12 races at 4 circuits it was Ralph Mulford who won his second championship. [13] These were retroactively calculated in 1927.
Soon after the Armistice Carl Fisher got organising the next 500-mile race at Indianapolis – to be called the “Liberty 500 Mile Sweepstakes”. He contacted Frenchman René Thomas, winner of the 1913 race, to come and add international interest. Thomas in turn approached Ballot, with Ernest Henry, to build a new car, from scratch, within a hundred days. [7]
A full field of 36 cars was entered to qualify for the 33 starting spots. Of necessity, there was a broad mixture of new and pre-war cars. Four new Ballots arrived with their veteran drivers René Thomas, Jules Goux, Louis Wagner and Paul Bablot. Three Duesenbergs with the new straight-8 engine were entered but only Tommy Milton’s was ready in time to qualify. [10] They also had 4-cylinder works cars for Eddie O'Donnell and Wilbur D'Alene and four privateer entries. Four of the Chevrolet brothers’ new Frontenacs arrived for themselves as well as reigning champion Mulford and Joe Boyer. [7] There were two private entries of new 4-cylinder Millers [10] and former winner Ralph DePalma was driving a V-12 Packard 299. [10] British team Sunbeam had cars for Briton Dario Resta and Frenchman Jean Chassagne but officials disqualified the team for having over-size engines. [14] This left the reigning race-winner without a drive.
The Peugeot EX5s from the pre-war races were still competitive and two were entered by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway team for Howdy Wilcox and French former winner Jules Goux. There was also an L25 voiturette driven by André Boillot, younger brother of former French racing hero Georges Boillot. [10] Finally, three Stutzes were entered as Durant Specials for Cliff Durant, Earl Cooper and Eddie Hearne for the Chevrolet company. [10]
The new Ballots were soon found to be over-geared, creating chronic tyre-wear on the brick surface. With no time to replace the engines, the only solution was to replace the Rudge-Whitworth wheels with smaller American wheels and tyres. [9] [10] This was the final time that a single timed lap would be used to judge qualification, with a minimum 80 mph needed (a 1:52.5 lap). Thomas got the fastest time with his Ballot on the first day of qualification to take pole position, ahead of Wilcox (Peugeot) and Guyot (Ballot), while Goux needed an engine change and was lucky to qualify his Peugeot with the last run of the day on Thursday.
At the start it was DePalma who stormed into the lead from Gaston Chevrolet and Wilcox. Then after 60 laps DePalma fell back with engine issues. When Chevrolet had tyre problems soon after, his brother Louis took over the lead. [10] [9] There were two terrible accidents mid-race. On lap 45, Arthur Thurman lost control of his Duesenberg at turn 3, smashed into the wall and rolled. Thurman was killed and his mechanic critically injured. [15] Then on lap 97 Louis LeCocq crashed. The car rolled and burst into flame. Trapped underneath he and his mechanic, Robert Bandini, were killed. [10] [16]
Wilcox took the lead at two-thirds’ distance. The vaunted Ballot challenge did not eventuate: Thomas’ tyres were torn up on the bricks, Wagner lost a wheel and Goux retired from exhaustion. Bablot became ill and was relieved by Chassagne (whose Sunbeam was scratched) who then crashed the car. [10] [8] In the end, it was a triumph for the pre-war cars: Wilcox won by a comfortable four minutes from Hearne in the Durant-Stutz and Jules Goux in the Peugeot third. [10] [9] [17]
From only two starts – a win at Indianapolis and second at the Sheepshead Bay Derby, Wilcox scored enough points to subsequently be awarded the AAA championship narrowly from Eddie Hearn (who had four second places and a third). [18]
One of the first motor-race events in Europe after the war was a series of speed trials in August on the beach of Fanø island on the west coast of Denmark. [19] By late in the year Conde Vincenzo Florio was able to use his reputation to assemble a reasonable field of twenty-four cars to his Targa Florio, [20] the first major race in post-war Europe. Again, it was a mix of old and new cars.
In 1915 Nicola Romeo got a majority shareholding in ALFA and merged it three years later into his group of engineering companies. [19] The Alfa Romeo 40/60 had veteran Giuseppe Campari and Nino Franchini as drivers. Among the four FIATs was Antonio Ascari in his first season of racing. There were also entries from race-regulars Itala, Diatto, Aquila Italiana and Nazzaro. New entry CMN had two cars for their drivers, Ugo Sivocci and a 21-year old Enzo Ferrari, who had already driven their cars from the factory in Milan. [20] Foreign interest was generated with the entry of René Thomas in his Ballot and André Boillot in the Peugeot L25, both now back from Indianapolis. Finally, there was the new British firm Eric-Campbell, with cars for 1912 Targa winner Cyril Snipe and Jack Scales. [5]
Four years of neglect through wartime had left the roads in a terrible state so a new, shortened circuit was used this year. The medio Madonie was 108 km long still started at Cerda but cut across from Castellana to Collesano to avoid the worst of the mountain roads. This was not helped by the atrocious weather on the day of the race, with the cars starting amidst high winds and snow. [10] [20] [21] Thomas was leading at the end of the first of four laps. Ascari slid off down a ravine. [22] Franchini retired his Alfa Romeo, stung by the frozen mud thrown up at him, and thereafter the Alfa cars were fitted with mudguards. [20] Boillot went off the road half a dozen times in his efforts to keep up. [23] Going into the last lap, Thomas stopped to refuel where his crew alerted him of the fast-approaching Peugeot. [22] Meanwhile, Boillot's mechanic instead grabbed a tank of fuel and filled up on the run. [10] The smaller Peugeot had a seven-minute lead and in his rush to catch up, Thomas went off the road, breaking the Ballot's axle. [20] [10]
Oblivious to the extent of his lead, Boillot kept pushing right to the end. Coming up to the finish-line the crowd surged onto the road to greet him. Fearful of a terrible accident at speed, Boillot slewed the car round in avoidance, injuring three spectators and hitting the palisade in front of the grandstand. The rest of the crowd tried to push the car back onto the road until a journalist warned he would be disqualified if they did. Dazed, and exhausted after nearly eight hours of concentration, the two did it and reversed over the line. Ernest Ballot then sportingly pointed out that reversing was also against the rules, so in a comical episode Boillot got back in the car, drove back to the incident site, turned around and drove back to the finish line to finally claim the victory. [20] [22] [10] [24]
The Italian cars were never able to keep up, with Antonio Moriondo in an Itala finishing half an hour behind in second, Domenico Gamboni's Diatto in third with only eight cars making it to the finish. [25] [5] Enzo Ferrari and the last two competitors, already well delayed, were held up further in Campofelice as the town square had filled with villagers to listen to a speech by the local governor, with no way through. By the time they finally reached the finish-line virtually everyone had caught the train back to Palermo and a remaining carabinieri took their finishing time. [20]
The 1925 Grand Prix season was a watershed year in motor racing. It was the first year for the new AIACR World Manufacturers' Championship season. The championship was won by Alfa Romeo, with its P2 model.
The 1926 Grand Prix season was the second AIACR World Manufacturers' Championship season and the first running to new 1.5-litre regulations. The championship was won by Bugatti and its Type 35 was the dominant car of the year.
The 1927 Grand Prix season was the third AIACR World Manufacturers' Championship season and the second run to a 1.5-litre engine limit. In a dominant display, the championship was won by Delage, with team driver Robert Benoist winning four of the five Grand Prix.
The 1908 Grand Prix season was the third Grand Prix racing season. An international economic recession affected motor-racing with fewer races and smaller fields. However, in consequence, it also saw an increase in the number of smaller cars and voiturette racing. This gave close racing between the teams from Lion-Peugeot, Sizaire-Naudin and Delage. Both the major races in Europe, the Targa Florio and French Grand Prix, had precursor voiturette races, and along with the Coupe des Voiturettes, the honours were shared between those three manufacturers. This year’s Targa Florio had a small, but quality, field. Vincenzo Trucco won for Isotta-Fraschini with better mechanical reliability, after a close duel with the FIATs of Felice Nazzaro and Vincenzo Lancia.
The 1910 Grand Prix season was the fifth Grand Prix racing season. Because of the ongoing international economic recession, there were no Grandes Épreuves held. The American Grand Prize was held in Savannah.
The 1911 Grand Prix season consisted of Grand Prix races in the United States and Europe. It was a significant year as European racing gradually came out of the doldrums. A Grand Prix was held in France again. The first Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, joining the American Grand Prize as a leading race.
The 1912 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing in Europe and the United States. The growing economic confidence and interest from car manufacturers saw bigger fields and more races in the season. The French Grand Prix was held for the first time since 1908 and staged at Dieppe. The American Grand Prize was held in Milwaukee, moving from its previous home in Savannah.
The 1914 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Lyon on 4 July 1914. Hailed as one of the greatest races of the twentieth century, it was a contest between the French Peugeots and the German Mercedes. For the first time, the Grand Prix was run to an engine limitation – of 4.5L maximum capacity. It was won by the Mercedes of Christian Lautenschlager who won at an average speed of 105.7 km/h (65.7 mph) after a tense seven-hour contest with the Peugeot of Georges Boillot.
The 1913 Grand Prix season consisted of Grand Prix races in Europe and the United States. Once again, the Peugeot works cars were the team to beat, continuing their success. This year the French Grand Prix was held in Amiens. The ACF introduced a fuel-economy formula for the race to discourage bigger-engined cars. Peugeot drivers Georges Boillot and Jules Goux claimed a 1-2 victory for the company after Zuccarelli had been killed in practice.
The 1914 Grand Prix season consisted of Grand Prix races across Europe and the United States until abbreviated by the outbreak of World War I.
The 1915 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing continue in the United States. Racing was suspended in Europe due to the outbreak of World War I. The American Grand Prize was held in San Francisco for the first time, in conjunction with the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. Several of the latest European cars had been imported to the USA before the war started. Briton Dario Resta had a Peugeot and Ralph DePalma raced one of the Mercedes GPs. While Resta won both races at San Francisco and DePalma won the Indianapolis 500, just ahead of Resta it was Earl Cooper, running a Stutz, whose consistency gave him the unofficial AAA national championship.
The 1916 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing continue in the United States. Racing was suspended in Europe due to the World War I engulfing the continent. Once again European cars dominated Indianapolis with victory going to Briton Dario Resta in a Peugeot. With the organisers wanting to appeal to the spectators, this was the only year that the race was scheduled for a shorter length – to run only 300 miles. The Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize returned to Santa Monica, California at the end of the year. Resta repeated his victory from the year before, winning the Vanderbilt Cup. Then when he retired in the Grand Prize it was Howdy Wilcox and Johnny Aitken who won in another of the dominant Peugeots. Oval courses now dominated the AAA Championship with these two events being the only road-course races this year. It proved to be the final time these two formative American races were held in this format, as the Great War dragged the country into the global chaos in 1917. With five victories across the season, the AAA national championship would be retroactively awarded to Dario Resta.
The 1921 Grand Prix season saw motor racing in Europe blossom again. The French Grand Prix was held for the first time since 1914, at La Sarthe, Le Mans. and the inaugural Italian Grand Prix was held in Montichiari, near Brescia. The 3-litre formula of the AIACR, already in use at Indianapolis, was adopted by those Grand Prix meaning manufacturers could design on a common formula.
The 1922 Grand Prix season had several notable events during the year. The AIACR governing body brought in a 2-litre formula for Grand Prix. French companies brought out straight-8 engines for their cars but it was FIAT's 6-cylinder engine that took the trophies. Veteran Felice Nazzaro won the French Grand Prix, held near Strasbourg. It was a tainted victory though, as Nazzaro's nephew was killed when his FIAT's suspension broke in the latter stages of the race. An almost identical accident also happened to team-mate Pietro Bordino, though he was only slightly injured. Pierre de Vizcaya's Bugatti finished second, nearly an hour behind.
The 1923 Grand Prix season was part of a watershed year for motor racing that saw significant advances in motor-racing engineering, design and events. Fiat's chief designer, Guido Fornaca, developed the 805, the first supercharged car to win a Grand Prix. Benz appeared with the first mid-engined racer and, along with Bugatti and Voisin, produced some of the first efforts at aerodynamics on racing cars. With the United States also adopting the 2-litre formula, Harry Miller could use the smaller engine size to design the first single-seater race-car, ideally suited to American oval racing.
The 1924 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing spread further across Europe and North America. In Italy a number of new open-road events were held. In France two new circuits were opened – at Montlhéry near Paris and Miramas near Marseille.
The 1929 Grand Prix season was another interim year, where most races were run to Formula Libre rules due to a lack of regulations from the AIACR that would be popular for race organisers and manufacturers. This blurred the line between racing cars and sports cars with both competing in the same races. Bugatti won the major international races, with their drivers Louis Chiron and "W Williams". The Italian Championship proved very competitive, attracting many top drivers. There it was Alfa Romeo, using their 4-year old P2 model that claimed more victories, than their main competition coming from Bugatti and Maserati.
The 1920 Grand Prix season saw further activity in motor-racing gradually increase. Europe was still recovering from the end of the war and the terrible pandemic that swept the continent. Automotive companies were gradually re-establishing themselves after re-tooling from a wartime footing and getting production lines rolling again.
The 1909 Grand Prix season was the fourth Grand Prix racing season. There were no Grandes Épreuves that year, as the economic recession of the previous year continued on. Renault had withdrawn from motor-racing and a number of French manufacturers, falling behind the success of their German and Italian rivals, followed suit. The French Grand Prix was cancelled, leaving the Targa Florio in Italy and Vanderbilt Cup in the United States as the only major races this season. With so little competition and financial incentive, technological advances ground to a halt. Emphasis shifted from racing to setting speed and endurance records. Benz & Cie built a new 12.4-litre racing-engine, and its 200 bhp derivative was put into the Blitzen Benz. This 21.5-litre monster held the Land speed record from 1909 to 1922, with various drivers starting with Victor Hémery in November, 1909 at Brooklands.
Ernest Henry was a mechanical engineer. He developed auto racing engines, and is especially well known for his work for Peugeot and Ballot, who dominated Grand Prix auto racing from 1912 to 1921. His engine design directly influenced Sunbeam Racing cars as early as 1914; the 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeams owe much to his work with Ballot and the 1922 Grand Prix Sunbeams were designed by him.
